Ruth 1:1

"In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah...went to live for a while in the country of Moab"

God’s intention was that Israel should be blessed and then be a blessing to the nations. Instead, Israel scorned her Maker, and God’s subsequent affliction of people and land drove many Israelites to seek sustenance from other nations. When God’s people refuse to use the resources God has given them to bless the families of the earth, God may withdraw those blessings from them and bring them by force to face both their own poverty of soul and the needs of the peoples of the earth.

O God, make us a blessing to the refugees around us and to peoples far away.

Shi’ite Muslim Hazara People of Afghanistan

It’s true that a majority people can become a minority. Usually it happens through a long process. But in the case of the Hazara people of Afghanistan, the change can be traced to the year 1893 when over half of them were massacred. Though they are still one of Afghanistan’s larger people groups, they are dominated by Afghanistan’s Sunni Muslim groups, especially the Pushtuns. As often happens, people groups want to be different from their enemies. Perhaps for this reason, the Hazara people are the only Shi’ite Muslim group in Afghanistan.

The Hazaras live in an area difficult to access in summer and virtually impossible to access in winter. Although they have no Christian Scriptures nor Christian broadcasts in their language, the few Hazara converts hesitate to meet with other believers in case they are spies who will turn them in to authorities who may torture or kill them.

Pray for God to call many workers to the Hazara people to show, by their work, the love of Jesus Christ and woo them to receive His loving and eternal salvation. Pray that these alienated people will find a faithful friend and ally in Jesus Christ. Pray that they will soon have radio broadcasts and Scripture portions readily available to them.-MC